This archive report was first published on 18 October 2021.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has emphasized the importance of strengthening governance in achieving sustainable peace and development. Speaking virtually at the Global Security Forum 2021 hosted by Qatar on October 12, 2021, President Kagame argued that external interventions, including military interventions, have largely failed to restore stability in Africa and elsewhere.
He cited the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), created in 1999, which has struggled to neutralize armed groups that have operated for 20 years with meager results. He also mentioned the UN mission in the Sahel region and the recent collapse of the Afghan government.
President Kagame stated that insecurity is caused by shortfalls in governance, which can take dangerous forms such as terrorism or genocide. He added that despite many chances to learn lessons from past failures, the global toolbox for dealing with these threats has hardly evolved.
He emphasized that no amount of external funding or troop commitment can create sustainable peace without putting governance at the center of it all. His comments come at a time when Rwanda has deployed 1,000 troops in Mozambique under a bilateral agreement to fight Islamic insurgents in Cabo Delgado.
The military interventions have liberated almost all territory that had been lost to the insurgents. President Kagame said that external forces can create safety and political space for new forms of consensus-based leadership within a society to gain the upper hand, but it cannot be forced or imposed.
